Housing Agency Spurns Millions To Honor Pledge To Poor

Delray Panel Turning Down Developers

January 3, 2006|By Erika Slife Staff Writer

Delray Beach — Last month, the city's Housing Authority was on the brink of becoming very rich.

It stood to collect as much as $24 million from a developer eager to rebuild Carver Estates. But in an abrupt move, the seven-member board turned down the lucrative offer to pursue something more alluring: its purpose.

The governmental body, which only a decade ago was reeling from corruption scandals and slapped with a failing grade by the federal government, declined three developer proposals to rebuild the housing project that would have netted them millions because housing commissioners thought it lacked the obvious: They wanted more housing for low-income families.

"Our role is to provide housing. It does not change. If it changes, then we go out of business," said Dorothy Ellington, executive director of the Delray Beach Housing Authority. "That was our pre-Carver Estates demolition goal, and that will be our post-Carver Estates demolition goal."

Created in 1973, the housing authority is poised to make a decision that will determine the direction of its mission, which is to provide housing for the extremely low-income. As board members ponder what to do with the 18 acres occupied by Carver Estates, the possible profit is not lost on developers who are hoping to cash in on the redevelopment.

"This sell is going to make the Delray Beach Housing Authority one of the richest small-town housing authorities in the country," said Cito Beguiristain, who made his observation as one of the developers to offer a proposal to rebuild the area. "It's an opportunity to do a lot of good for a lot of people."

But board members say they are not interested in selling the land. Rather, they intend to remain involved with the property and play an active role in managing the housing units. More importantly, the board wants more housing units available for displaced Carver Estates tenants, who were evicted from the housing project Nov. 3 when it was condemned after Hurricane Wilma.

None of the three proposals, which offered various plans of mixed-use, mixed-income housing, had the components the board is seeking. One plan proposed building 356 townhomes and 13 single-family homes; another suggested building 160 affordable rental units and 44 home-ownership sites.

One offered to buy the land outright.

"We can't be the Housing Authority and sell homes at $400,000, $500,000," said Andre Tookes, a board member and former resident of Carver Estates. "The Housing Authority is a beautiful thing if used right. It shouldn't change."

The housing authority has come a long way from when the U.S. Housing and Urban Development labeled the commission "troubled" and wanted to hand over control to the county. About the same time, two executive directors and a board chairwoman were fired after they were charged with illegal check writing and stealing from the commission.

"The agency was in trouble, it was in disarray," recalled Ellington, who, along with a new staff, came on board shortly after the scandals and helped turn it around. "The history is important, not only to this administration and this board. It's important to see from where we've come."

Board members hold steadfast to the goal of providing affordable and low-income housing. The deal to redevelop Carver Estates is not about making money, they insist, but about doing something to help solve South Florida's affordable housing problem.

"It's a groundbreaking opportunity," said Gary Rosen, chairman of the board. "Not just for the Housing Authority, but for the city in its entirety. It's an opportunity to create a model and do something that so many others speak of, but so little have done. We can be a pioneer."

Affordable housing advocates applaud the board's careful deliberation over the development process. In a real estate market that is already squeezing out moderate- and low-income families, it is the very poor who are bearing the brunt of the problem, they say.

"Real estate prices are so high and people of the low-income pay scale desperately need those public housing units," said Jaimie Ross, president of the Florida Housing Coalition. "If they're proceeding cautiously because they do want to serve the population they serve, that's a good thing."

Erika Slife can be reached at eslife@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6690.